


Heavens Rain Grace

by cosmosatyrus



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-20
Updated: 2010-01-20
Packaged: 2017-10-26 15:53:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/285095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmosatyrus/pseuds/cosmosatyrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hikaru Sulu meets a sexy blonde nurse after he injures his knee while fencing at the Academy, except all he can think about is the weird kid from his Astrometrics class. Prompted by the <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/st_respect/18478.html">Team McChapel</a> entry for <a href="http://community.livejournal.com/st_respect/">Ship Wars</a> Beta read by <a href="http://angelofcaffeine.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://angelofcaffeine.livejournal.com/"><b>angelofcaffeine</b></a>. Archived at <a href="http://awfully-clever.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://awfully-clever.livejournal.com/"><b>awfully_clever</b></a></p>
    </blockquote>





	Heavens Rain Grace

**Author's Note:**

> Hikaru Sulu meets a sexy blonde nurse after he injures his knee while fencing at the Academy, except all he can think about is the weird kid from his Astrometrics class. Prompted by the [Team McChapel](http://community.livejournal.com/st_respect/18478.html) entry for [Ship Wars](http://community.livejournal.com/st_respect/) Beta read by [](http://angelofcaffeine.livejournal.com/profile)[**angelofcaffeine**](http://angelofcaffeine.livejournal.com/). Archived at [](http://awfully-clever.livejournal.com/profile)[**awfully_clever**](http://awfully-clever.livejournal.com/)

They'd hit it off nicely; she was a long-legged nurse and he'd met her after a wrong step while fencing sent him limping to the clinic. The kid from his Astrometrics class was nice enough to have helped him there and after she regenerated tissue in his knee and sent him home with a bottle of painkillers, colloquially referred to as Starfleet candy, the date was a done deal. Nurse Christine was pretty, flirtatious, smart. No - she was GORGEOUS and BRILLIANT and SEXY AS HELL, and he looked forward to their night out. She gave him instructions to keep the weight off of it for a day, gave him her number, and asked him to meet her Friday at a nice off-campus restaurant. He knew the place well and the food was both good and within a Cadet's budget. The kid from Astrometrics offered to help him home to his mom's flat on the other side of town and after a few minutes of silence, Hikaru tried to make small talk in the cab. "That nurse was pretty hot."

The kid shrugged, "Maybe. I don't know. She was too skinny and she look at me like I am a child."

Hikaru tried not to smile too much at the indignant pout and resisted ruffling his hair. "You're the kid from Russia, right?"

His adorable little pout turned into an adorable little scowl, like an angry kitten with a phaser, "What was your first clue?"

"Uh... 'cause of the accent?" He winced at the sound of his own voice, wishing he hadn't said what was probably one of the most idiotic things in the history of small talk. The kid just narrowed his eyes and pressed his lips together in the least threatening annoyed look on the planet. "Okay, let's start over. I don't want us getting off on the wrong foot."

"I think you got off on wrong foot." For a split second, Hikaru was devastated by the idea that he'd offended the kid. He hadn't meant to and if his mom knew he'd been so thoughtless, she'd give him Hell. Living at home had its drawbacks, too. The kid pointed to Hikaru's injured leg, "Is joke." His deadpan delivery had been perfect and Hikaru laughed at himself for being such an idiot.

Hikaru stuck out his hand, "I'm Hikaru Sulu."

The kid's face brightened and it was almost like he smiled with his entire body as they shook hands, "Chekov, Pavel Andreievich. I am pleased to make your acquaintance. What is your patronymic?"

"Hunh?"

Hikaru tried to ignore the flutter that went through his chest as Pavel looked at him with the most gorgeous green eyes. "Your patronymic. Like, 'Andreievich'."

"Oh! My middle name is Walter, after a friend of the family's."

The flutter did not subside and only managed to get worse as the kid bit his bottom lip and concentrated. "You do not have a patronymic? This is a strange country. I will explain." A lump formed in Hikaru's throat as he watched the kid speak, practically murdering Standard pronunciation, but in a way that was probably the hottest thing since the sun. "A patronymic indicates who is your, eh, predecessor, I think. Anyway, it says who your father is, you know, like: I am Pavel Andreievich, my father is Andrei Demitrievich, his father is Dimitri Sergeyevich, and so on. Understand?"

"Yeah," He tried to play it cool, tried to ignore the heat rising in his chest as he suddenly felt entirely too close to the kid. "My dad's name was Sato."

"Hmm," Pavel pursed his lips in thought, "Hikaru Walter Satovich Sulu. I like this." The cab stopped in front of his house and Hikaru breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he'd die of lust if he had to sit in a car with this kid for another minute. The guy was, like, _twelve_ and Hikaru felt like a dirty old man. "Ah! This must be your home, _da_? I will help you to the inside."

Pavel scooted out of the cab with both his and Hikaru's bags and then offered a hand to help him out. "You don't have to-"

"Eh, _Ne za čto_ , Hikaru. It is nothing." They walked slowly up the steps, Pavel holding on to his arm to give a little support.

Before they reached the top of the stairs, Hikaru's mother appeared in a floral apron with arms crossed and a wooden spoon in hand, "Hikaru Walter Sulu!" He sighed and took another step up to his doom, " _What_ have you been doing?!"

"Fencing, Mom." He took another slow step up, "I kind of landed wrong and-"

"Do not worry, Mrs. Sulu," Pavel interrupted. They finally reached the top of the stairs and Pavel set down both their bags, "It was accident and the injury is not much. He is not to carry too heavy things for twenty-four hours and he is to take these for pain," he handed her the pills from Hikaru's bag, "one every four hours, not more. Here is number for Nurse if it is becoming worse."

"Why thank you, um," she stuck out her hand, remembered the spoon, put it in the pocket of her apron, and offered it again.

"Chekov, Pavel Andreievich." He took her hand and very graciously bent to kiss it.

"Oh, my," Hikaru's Mom twittered, "It's nice to meet you, Pavel. You can call me Mitzi." She looked at Hikaru and smiled pointedly. "He's _so_ polite, Hikaru. Isn't he polite?" Hikaru rolled his eyes. "Come on in, Pavel, you must be hungry. Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes."

"Oh, no, Mrs. Sulu, _spasi-_ eh, _nyet-_ eh, no, thank you, but I must be going. I have, eh, meal plan. I eat at the cafeteria." Pavel looked toward the street, but the cab had already gone.

"Nonsense," she'd already picked up both their bags and was ushering Hikaru inside, "It's the least I can do for you after what you did for Hikaru." Pavel relented and soon they were sitting inside on the mango-colored couch, Hikaru with his injured foot on a pillow on the coffee table as Mrs. Sulu both fussed at and fussed over him.

A timer went off and she excused herself to the kitchen to finish up with dinner. Pavel sat with his spine very straight and looked around the Sulu's tiny flat. "Is nice place, Hikaru. You have sisters?"

"How did you know?"

Pavel pointed to a picture frame that slowly cycled through pictures of him and his two sisters and then to a copy of _Teen Beat_ on the coffeetable. "Assess situation quickly - important command skill. Also, there are two girls that look like you outside."

As if on cue, Hana, younger than Hikaru by eight years, burst through the door, pigtails swinging. "Hi, Hikachu! Hi Hikachu's friend!" She stuck her head out the door and yelled, "KIKO! Hikaru's got a friend over and he's REALLY CUTE!"

"Hana!" Mrs. Sulu scolded from the kitchen, "Act like you have manners!"

"Sorry, Mom." She dropped her bag by the door.

"And put your things away!"

"Yes, Mom!" Hana sighed, rolled her eyes, and shoved her bag into the bottom of the hall closet.

Kiko came in more quietly, but stopped and stared at Pavel for a moment. "Hi." She put her things away neatly and then headed upstairs to her room without another word.

"Middle child syndrome," explained Hana, who had draped herself over the back of the couch. "I'm Hana."

Pavel turned and nodded politely, "Chekov, Pavel Andreievich. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

A third person came in and Pavel shot up as if an admiral had entered the room, "Oh, who is this, Hikaru? He's a handsome young man. And what have you done to yourself this time?"

"Hi, Grandma." Hikaru waved from the couch, but did not stand. "This is Pavel, we're in Astrometrics together. I messed up my knee practicing this afternoon, so he helped me home."

"Oh, how very nice of him to do so!" She bowed and with a little hesitation, Pavel copied the gesture. "It is very nice to meet you, Pavel. You are staying for dinner, I hope?"

"Yes, thank you, Mrs.-" He half-nodded and half-bowed, returning to his ramrod straight "at ease" stance.

"You can call me Grandma." She gave Hikaru a significant look and nodded in approval. He shook his head, "no," but she countered with the "are you sure?" eyebrows. Hikaru parried with the "yes, Grandma, I'm sure, can we drop it?" scowl, which was followed by her patented shrug of "whatever you say, Hikaru, but your grandmother is always right." Hikaru answered this thrust against his ego with the universally known eyeroll and sigh combination, thus ending the match in a draw. Even still, he knew he had lost. She _was_ always right. Pavel helped set the table, making sure each utensil was exactly parallel with the napkin and the correct distance from the plate. When Mrs. Sulu brought in and uncovered all the dishes, a wonderful savory smell filled the small dining room and the Sulus all sat and dug in without ceremony. Pavel just waited and watched, not dishing anything for himself, but passing rice and meat and vegetables graciously to whomever asked for them.

"You should eat, Pavel," Grandma encouraged. "You're a growing young man."

"I do not wish to be rude, but I cannot eat these things." Pavel furrowed his brow and frowned slightly. Hikaru just wanted to kiss it away and lost himself in this thought until Hana took the bowl from his hands. "I am sorry. I am certain is very good, very tasty. It is only that I am," He paused and seemed to think very hard about his next word, " _Yevry_ and I cannot eat these things. You know this word? _Yevry_?"

"Vegetarian?" Mrs. Sulu asked.

"No, no, no, not this 'vegetarian,'" Pavel put a "w" where a "v" should have been and Hikaru nearly had to excuse himself from the table. "It is something else. Like... eh... _kashrut?_ You know this word, maybe?" Mrs. Sulu shook her head and Pavel started to look a little frustrated.

"It means 'kosher.' He's Jewish, Mom." It was the first thing Kiko had said all afternoon and all eyes turned to her. "What? My German teacher is Jewish."

"Herr Rice is Jewish?" Hikaru asked, serving himself another scoop of rice.

Kiko rolled her eyes, "Way to be observant, Hikaru."

"Oh, dear," Mrs. Sulu was suddenly horrified, "Kiko, Hana, clear the table. Put everything away."

"No, no, no, Mrs. Sulu, is okay. I will eat when I return to campus!" Pavel objected, but Mrs. Sulu waved him off. "You do not need to-"

"Of all nights to serve pork chops!" She stood and took Hikaru's plate as he was about to take a bite.

"Hey!"

"You can have them tomorrow as leftovers, Hikaru. Now make yourself useful and find a place where we can order food for your friend." Pavel stood and began gathering dishes, "You sit down, Pavel." She took the plates from him and he sat down again. "You have to help Hikaru." They ended up ordering from a place in Hayes Valley that delivered and Hikaru got his first taste of matzoh ball soup. Conversation was surprisingly light and easy and by the time dinner had concluded and the takeout boxes piled into the recycler, it had begun to rain. Thunder and lightning pealed through the sky as Pavel peered out the window at the downpour.

"I must be going, Mrs. Sulu. Thank you very much for the meal."

"You can't go out in that," Grandma interjected and it was more of a command than a suggestion. "You'll catch a cold."

Hana threw her arms around Pavel's neck and he laughed, tumbling sideways into a plush chair as she did her best Snoopy vulture impersonation, her pigtails hanging down like puppy ears, "Yeah, you have to stay here. I've decided we're keeping you. Mommy, can we keep him? Pleeeeeease?" She pressed her hands together and bounced.

Hikaru couldn't help but laugh at the whole scene, even as he apologized, "I'm sorry about my sister. She has no manners."

"Is okay, Hikaru. I do not mind. Is okay." He straightened himself up and grinned. "I do not wish to be any more trouble for you, Mrs. Sulu."

"Don't be silly, you're no trouble at all." Hikaru considered how Pavel had just naturally fit himself into this little family. It wasn't weird or awkward having him there, even though they'd only properly met that afternoon. He found himself growing attached to the kid and Hikaru couldn't keep his eyes off him - his hair, his lips, that angled jaw - all of it just perfect. He was beautiful. He loved his little laugh, his sun-bright smile, and the way he used his entire body to express emotion. "You can sleep upstairs in Hikaru's room."

"Yeah," Hikaru heard himself speaking as though from a distance, not quite believing what he was saying, "We've got a couple sleeping bags we can put on the floor, if that's okay."

A loud crack of thunder preceded the sound of rain pounding the windows harder than before as though desperate to get inside. Pavel looked out the window again with a worried look and then nodded, "Okay. I must send note to my roommate. He will wonder where I am." Preparations were made and as evening further darkened the sky, the girls settled down to their homework as Pavel and Hikaru studied together on the couch. The two matriarchs spoke softly to each other, their eyes occasionally darting toward the two boys in red. Pavel ended up helping Hana with her physics homework and Hikaru found himself utterly in love. He was a patient teacher to his hyperactive little sister and that was even more impressive than the raw knowledge that flowed so easily from his perfect mouth. Even Kiko liked him and Kiko didn't like anyone. Instead of retreating to her room as usual, she stayed, not saying much, but watching him and blushing every time they made eye-contact.

Grandma was the first to retire for the evening, followed by the girls (who protested in vain), and then Mrs. Sulu, who kissed Pavel's cheek and wished him goodnight before going to her bedroom. Pavel helped Hikaru up the stairs to his room and he felt his skin tingle all over at Pavel's touch. He wanted to blame it on the painkillers, but anti-inflammatories never made his heart do flips like this. Once inside, Hikaru took off his cadet red jacket, tossed it on the floor, and searched through his dresser for an extra pair of shorts and a t-shirt for Pavel. "I'm sorry about the mess, I wasn't expecting guests." Little square pots lined the windowsill and round ones hung from hooks in the ceiling, all overfull with green leaves. Every surface was covered in models of ships, judo trophies, PADDs, and plants situated under grow lamps. Exotic weapons hung on the walls next to posters of modern and obsolete aircraft. Hikaru's favorite was the one of the UH-1 Iroquois helicopter which, like a bumblebee, didn't look like it ought to be able to fly. He tossed some clothes to Pavel who just stood and held on to them as Hikaru sat on the bed and began to take off his shirt. By the time he'd pulled the turtleneck over his head, Pavel had done an about-face and started to remove his own jacket and shoes. Hikaru smiled at the kid's modesty, and when he reached for his boot he made an involuntary noise as pain shot out from his injured knee. "Pavel?"

" _Da?_ " Hikaru swallowed hard as Pavel pulled his shirt over his head. It was a pretty sight and the obvious blush at the back of his neck and the ends of his ears only made it worse.

"I hate to ask this, but... you mind helping me with my boots?" Pavel pulled the t-shirt on, an old faded band shirt that was obviously much too big, and did not answer. "Please?" After another pause, Pavel agreed and turned around, his face bright red. "Are you okay?"

" _Da_ \- eh, yes, okay. Is okay. I can help." He grabbed Hikaru's boot and pulled it off, falling on his duff in the process. He did the same with the second boot and between the pain and the noise that a sexy blushing Pavel made each time he fell, Hikaru practically bit through his lip. "Your pants?"

"No, thanks. I think I can-" Hikaru started to pull his pants down, but when he got them to his knee another sharp pain spiked through his leg, "Fuck! Ah! Yeah. I need help."

"Okay." Hikaru was certain that if Pavel had blushed any harder, they'd both die. "Lay flat." Hikaru did so and Pavel very gingerly pulled Hikaru's pants the rest of the way off. Once he was divested of his uniform and wearing only his boxers, Pavel folded Hikaru's pants, set them on top of the dresser, and turned around to finish dressing.

Hikaru fought the lust building in the back of his brain, tried not to look at the kid's legs, and flung the covers over himself, repeating, "Jailbait, jailbait, jailbait" inside his mind like warning klaxon.

Pavel slipped into the sleeping bag and lay with his back to Hikaru. "Hikaru?"

"Yeah?"

"When do lights turn off?"

"Oh, sorry, They're not computerized." He started to get out of bed again to turn off all the grow lamps and the light by his bed, but Pavel was already up again. "I can-"

"No, is okay. I can do this." He examined each lamp, found each switch, and the room darkened by degrees. Last of all was his bedside lamp, which was an old-fashioned one with a pull chain. Pavel leaned over from the wrong side of the bed, his chest over Hikaru's, and lost his footing as he reached for the chain, falling into Hikaru's lap. His eyes opened wider than Hikaru thought possible and they were green like a forest canopy, streaked in gold and brown, "Ai, _prasti!_ Eh, Sorry! Very sorry!"

Then, as though all rational thought had left him, Hikaru kissed him. He was glad Pavel didn't run screaming from his room at this point, and was rather surprised at being kissed back. When sense returned to him, he broke the kiss. "Hoshit, Pavel. I'm sorry-"

"Is late. We should sleep."

"Yeah, sleep. I've got Command Theory at 7:30."

" _Da_ , me too."

"Right." Pavel put himself back inside the sleeping bag, his back to Hikaru. He turned the light out and pretended to sleep as he listened to Pavel's breath.

\---

When Friday came, it was still raining. Hikaru finished his classes for the day and took the bus home, watching the droplets streak down the windows and thinking of Pavel. They shared four classes, all Junior-level, all difficult, and the kid never once seemed to have trouble answering the professors' questions. He couldn't get his mind off of him - his hair, his lips, his legs, the way he handled Hana, how he insisted on helping with dinner, his voice, that blush. When he got home, Grandma and Mrs. Sulu sat with several cookbooks and a couple of PADDs spread out over the whole table, concentrated in some kind of research. "What are you doing?"

"It's for the next time Pavel comes over." Mrs. Sulu passed one of the cookbooks to Grandma and pointed at a picture of some kind of glazed chicken. Grandma examined it with all seriousness and then rejected it. "I want to make something he'll like. He _is_ coming over again, isn't he? I just hate to think of him trying to subsist on the replicated junk they have over there. It's no wonder he's so skinny."

"Yeah, sure, Mom. I'll ask him." He went upstairs, showered, and changed into black slacks and a black button-up shirt for his date with Christine. He made it out of the house without too much fuss and to the bus stop near the place where he was meant to meet Christine. He opened his umbrella and started to walk, but a gust of wind took it from him, sending the red and white stripes tumbling down a grey street in the wrong direction. He chased after it for a block and a half, finding himself on the edge of campus where Pavel's dorm was. Now soaked, Hikaru closed it and walked the rest of the way there, ending up standing outside Pavel's second-story window like a lovesick fool. He was sixteen, too young, and yet Hikaru was standing in the cold rain instead of sitting in a nice, warm, dry restaurant with a sexy blonde nurse. "I am an idiot," he said aloud to no one and just as he started to leave, he heard his name.

"Hikaru!" Pavel was leaning out the window, "Hikaru! What are you doing? You will catch a cold! Come inside!" Hikaru grinned like an idiot and went inside. Pavel met him in the lobby with a towel and they went up the stairs to his room. The little desk was set with two candles, a loaf of bread, a plate of food, and a bottle of grape juice sitting next to a silver cup.

"Are you expecting someone? Should I go?"

"Bah, no. My roommate is out with a girl. Is only me today. Mostly, he is out Fridays - with girls." Hikaru looked at the table, "Oh, this? For Shabbat. I do not know any others here like me, so I do this alone. Sometimes my roommate does not go out and he sits with me, but I do not think he is _Yevry_ like me. He eats many cheeseburgers. You can stay if you like."

"Sure."

Pavel finished his preparations, grabbing an extra plate of food before standing next to the candles with a lighter in one hand. "Wait, I forget!" He took two strides to his dresser and rifled around until he found what he was looking for, "Aha!" He handed a round piece of black satin to Hikaru and situated the blue and silver embroidered one on his own head. "Is hat. For your head."

"Oh, okay." He put it on and suddenly felt at sea, swimming in the unknown currents of activity around Pavel Andreievich Chekov. Questions flooded his mind, too many to ask, so Hikaru just sat and watched.

Pavel bit his lip and furrowed his brow for a moment. "I do not know the blessings in Standard."

"That's okay." Pavel nodded and as he began, Hikaru let himself get lost in the words he didn't know, the movements, the smell of bread, the taste of salt, and the sweetness of the juice they shared. They did nothing but talk the rest of the evening and when he finally made it home after midnight, it had stopped raining and Hikaru found himself singing and giddy as though drunk.

"I guess you had a good date?" Mrs. Sulu sat on the couch with a cup of tea.

"Yeah, mom," he kissed her cheek, "I did."

"A girl called here for you. She said her name was Christine."

"Oh, geez." Hikaru hung his head. He'd gotten caught up in being with Pavel and forgot all about her. "I'm such a dick. I'll send her a message in the morning."

"I raised you better than that, Hikaru."

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to. I take it you were with Pavel?" Hikaru nodded and she patted the seat next to her. He sat, head in his hands, and she stroked his back like she did when he was little. "He's sixteen, Hikaru, Kiko's age. I want you to remember that, okay?"

"Okay."

"I'm going to bed." She kissed his cheek and took her teacup to the kitchen, "He's coming over for dinner again, right?"

Hikaru laughed, "I forgot to ask."

"Just let me know, okay? G'night, Roo."

"G'night, Kanga." The next morning, Hikaru sent a profusely apologetic message to Christine and an invitation to dinner to Pavel.


End file.
